Working on a load for the old faithful with a dearth of bullets. My grandpa loaded for me for a lot of years but I’m on my own now. I’ve had very poor luck with heavier bullets. For White tails, everyone always says a 100 grain bullet. I have had terrible luck with those even with excellent shot placement. The best luck I have had has been with a 90 gr sierra bullet with the hollowpoint. I don’t remember the specifics as my grandpa loaded those. I am curious if anyone else has had any success or are used a 90gr Hornady GMX bullet?
Anyone else load for/hunt with a 250 savage
- Thread starter JmacD
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- 250 savage 250-3000 257 hornady
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25-20 WCF
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I’ve hunted with the .250 in both pistol and rifle, and the bullet which worked best for me on deer was the 100-grain Nosler BallisticTip. It has great expansion and plenty of penetration for deer out of either. The Partition was also very good but no better IME. Even though both firearms coukd safely take higher pressure loads, I kept the loads at the Hodgdon maximums.
What exactly does “terrible luck” mean? Luck isn’t a successful hunting strategy. A 10-grain difference in bullet weight is pretty meaningless, it is bullet construction which matters here. I wonder what the exact load was, if too slow the BTip might not have expanded well enough while the lighter construction of the varmint bullet did. The GMX will be tougher than the 90-grain HP, so if inadequate expansion was a problem it won’t cure it.
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What exactly does “terrible luck” mean? Luck isn’t a successful hunting strategy. A 10-grain difference in bullet weight is pretty meaningless, it is bullet construction which matters here. I wonder what the exact load was, if too slow the BTip might not have expanded well enough while the lighter construction of the varmint bullet did. The GMX will be tougher than the 90-grain HP, so if inadequate expansion was a problem it won’t cure it.
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CarJunkieLS1
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I shoot a ballistic equivalent to the 250 Savage in a wildcat AR-15 cartridge. Like the OP my best luck has been with the Sierra 90gr BTHP. It is a fragile bullet so no weird angle shots for me. Neck shots or in the ribs aiming for the heart only. I do have some 100gr Core-Lokt pulls that I am planning to shoot.
OP have you tried the Speer or Sierra 87gr soft point bullets. They have done good work in all the 25-45 sharps I've seen.
OP have you tried the Speer or Sierra 87gr soft point bullets. They have done good work in all the 25-45 sharps I've seen.
The original bullet for the 250-3000 Savage was 87 grains. With the powders of the day, they had to reduce the bullet weight to achieve that magical 3000 feet per second level for the marketing people. In fact, the twist on those early Savage 99 barrels was so slow, it had trouble even stabilizing a 100 grain bullet. For white tails, I would suggest you use the lightest big game bullet you can find, and toss it at the fastest velocity you can muster up and still be safe.
Speer just happens to make an 87 grain Hot Cor and MidwayUSA currently has them in stock.
Speer just happens to make an 87 grain Hot Cor and MidwayUSA currently has them in stock.
You probably have a slow twist barrel. My Savage model 20 with the 1-14 handles 100 gr bullets ok at 100 yds but I haven’t pushed them yet. The Speer 87 gr is working well so far. I saw them available at midway a week or two ago. I’ve never taken a deer with it but haven’t missed one either.
“Terrible Luck” means that whichever end of the powder scale was used and everything in between all had problems. The 100 gr loads won’t perform properly. And any heavier won’t even come close to stabilizing. (Exactly as the Hornady manual describes) with 100 gr I’ve poked .257 holes all the way through a deer with zero expansion. Or else it won’t even be close to accurate. The 90 gr or 87 gr as was mentioned in later replies gives zero problems and pretty much every wily Whitetail I’ve popped with them have went down in sight or on top of the tracks they were standing in. Hence why I’m wondering about the 90 gr gmx.
I’m guessing you’re correct. I haven’t checked the twist rate yet.
There is nothing wrong with the 90 GMX if you need something that really holds together for something tough. If I was going after elk, I would grab a GMX or a Partition. For Whitetails, you want a level of explosiveness for the quick kill more than you need excessive penetration. If you tried lead core 90 and 87 bullets and they did the trick, why would you spend more on a tougher bullet like the GMX that might not do what you want? Stick with what works. Speed kills.
I’d be concerned that the 90gr GMX won’t stabilize in a slow twist rifle. Copper bullets tend to be long for weight which isn’t good for stability. Those are also designed with the 25-06 in mind so expansion might not be great either except at closer ranges.
25-20 WCF
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The OP doesn’t tell us the rifle he has, it’s vintage or the specific 100-grain bullets he used. I’m not saying the OP is wrong, but the 100-grain bullets I’ve used in my .250s have all given good expansion. If he loaded the bullets so slow that they failed to expand then they shouldn’t stabilize if he has a 1:14” twist. If he loaded them up to top velocity they’d be stable and should expand - as thousands of hunters who use them know. The 100 BTip has never failed to expand well on deer even when I loaded it to 2500 fps in the handgun. Speer states that their 100 SP will stabilize in any twist rate, and it expanded well on the single deer I took with it. Odd.
But if the OP believes he needs a lighter bullet then he can try the 90 GMX. Be advised that this bullet is as long or longer than many 100-grain bullets so it may be no more accurate for him than the 100s have been. All I can say at this point is good luck to him.
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Yep! The 90 GMX would be a laser death ray in a 257 Weatherby Magnum.
And, sometimes, old rifles don't have accurate twist rates. They are published at 1 in 14 let's say, but you check and, lo and behold, the actual twist is 1 in 14.5. Or, you can push a bullet fast enough to be on the gnat's edge at 100 yards, but when it slows any at all further downrange, keyhole time! Or, one 100 grain bullet is just short enough to be stable, and another 100 grain bullet is just a touch longer and won't do it.
I’ll have to do some testing when I have the time and powder to spare. I buy any old or cheap 25 cal bullets I can find. I have some Speer 100 gr and they’re fairly short compared to the Prvi Partizan 100 gr. I suspect the Speers will work fine in the 250-3000 but always guessed the Prvis will be marginal and better off in the 257 Roberts
GooseGestapo
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The 87gr should work well on deer.
A load of IMR 3031, 4064, or 4320 should work well!
My.25 is a .257Roberts with a 1/10” twist and has killed deer like lightning.
Even a 75gr Hornady HP has given great results.
Shot placement is King!
I’ve long considered rebarreling my Remington Mod-7 for .250Savage. Definitely beats a .243 for big game!
A load of IMR 3031, 4064, or 4320 should work well!
My.25 is a .257Roberts with a 1/10” twist and has killed deer like lightning.
Even a 75gr Hornady HP has given great results.
Shot placement is King!
I’ve long considered rebarreling my Remington Mod-7 for .250Savage. Definitely beats a .243 for big game!
9x56MS
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I have had great performance with the hot core bullets and also with the Hornady round nose 117 grain bullets but I am shooting them through a Ruger model 77 RSI with a 1:9 twist. If you are using a savage 99 check the twist rate. For white tails it is an awsome little round.
The cartridge was introduced for the model 99 in 1915. All of the 99's of that vintage have a 1 in 14 twist, which is pretty darned slow. At some point, they introduced a 100 grain bullet and tightened the twist up to 1 in 10. I don't exactly know when that happened. So, it all depends upon the age of your rifle. If your gun is 1 in 14, oh well, shoot a lighter bullet and live with it. That's basically the same story as the 244 Remington/6mm Remington. If you have a 244, shoot a lighter bullet. For that matter, a ton of 22-250 Remington chambered rifles came with a 1-14 twist. They don't like bullets north of 55 grains too much. I get away with a bit more because I live at altitude.
Alright, I pawed through some research data. Peters introduced the first 100 grain load for the 250-3000 in 1933. Unfortunately, Savage didn't get around to tightening up the barrel twist until 1961. Talk about being slow to react!! So, if you own a 250-3000 Savage 99 that is older than 1961, you will have some trouble with 100 grain bullets, and a lot of trouble if you try to go with a bullet heavier than that except for that 117 round nose (25-35). Copper bullets are basically out as far as the old rifles are concerned. Short and lead cored, baby!
The only problem with .257 has always been the poor bullet selection for the caliber. Not sure why this is but have been told it always been that way, I would love to get a 75g bullet that was a good bonded bullet. Both .264 and .243 have awesome sections
9x56MS
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My grandson loves my Ruger RSI in the 250. Probably because it is short, handy in a stand and doesn’t kick much. The RSI’s are just a well proportioned rifle. I don’t get to use it much anymore but I don’t lament as it means more time with my MS 1905 in 9x56mm which is a joy to carry and hunt with.
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